Night Amber
by Olive Tree Hugger
Summary: The avatar and her friends are trapped in the spirit wilds of Republic City during a storm. And there's something very odd going on in there. Who's that handsome police officer? Isn't he dead? (Inspired by steinbecks on tumblr)


**Quick note before you read!**

**This piece was inspired by steinbecks' headcanon on tumblr about Mako becoming Republic City's spiritual guardian after he dies, sort of like The Painted Lady. **

**Here's the original post: (http:)(/)(/)(steinbecks).(tum)(blr).com(/)post/113522844554/i-have-this-headcanon-that-mako-loves-republic**

**Just remove the parentheses. Otherwise the website will ruin it. Steinbecks was lovely enough to let me use the headcanon so, thank you! 3**

* * *

Brightly lit, celestial bodies flutter past my head and into the canopy of vines looming over us. I squint, noting the dark space where the vines come apart. _The sky._

Leguan runs into me from behind, nearly knocking me off balance. I hear myself gasp, because it's too easy to sneak up on someone in the spirit wilds, even when you don't mean it.

"Sorry," he mumbles, rubbing an eyelid. "Just tired. You think we can just find a place to crash here and pick up tomorrooo_oh shit_, Yume!"

I follow his pointed finger, lighting my hand aflame. A thick pair of green, slimy vines slap me across the face and toss me into the ground.

Black spots blur my vision as I try to sit up. My best friend throws a punch at the right vine, only to have it wrap around his wrist and twist him around like a noodle. He screeches, because now the vine is breaking his arm.

Jumping onto my feet, I sprint towards them, both hands shaking. Wind flies out of my fingertips, slicing the foliage in two. The vine shrivels up around his wrist and falls off.

I shout in victory and help Leguan onto his feet. He hisses, "_Ah_, my... _wrist_."

Worried, I take in his arm into my hands and gasp. It's inflamed at the site where the vine wrapped around it; there's bright red and searing hot inflammation around the ring marks left in his flesh.

"We need to get you to a healer...or something. Maybe we _should_ just find a place to sleep for tonight," I ponder aloud, feeling guilty. These sentient vines must be reacting to me. I am the avatar, after all. It's probably been a long time since they've last encountered me.

Leguan nods, replying, "Sounds good. I think I saw an abandoned motel somewhere."

I purse my lips, thinking. Just then I notice that our group is missing two people. "Where's Mang and Ginshi?" I ask, panicking. My stomach clenches.

His green eyes pop open and he gulps, "Agni, I hope the vines didn't get them. Well, I hope they didn't get Mang. They can have Ginshi."

"I heard that!" The aristocrat shouts behind us.

Mang and Ginshi step into view, pushing through the hanging vines like curtains. A coil of chains wraps around Mang's waist. She twirls them at the ends like a jump rope.

Relief unclenches my gut and I wave at them, "Good, you're okay. Listen, we have to find a place to crash. Leguan's arm is hurt."

"Oh no!" Mang squeaks, rushing over to him. She reaches for his arm and gasps, "Oh, you poor guy." She looks at me, "He needs medical attention."

Leguan grunts in pain when she lays a pudgy, delicate hand on his skin. When she pulls away, he sputters, "No, no, it's okay! Just ignore me."

I hear Ginshi scoff, "Let me guess: you were messing with the spirit vines? A word of advice: don't mess with them and they won't mess with you."

My jaw drops at his lack of humanity. "We didn't do _anything. _They just attacked us!" I retort.

He shrugs, replying, "The vines didn't attack Mang or me. Maybe you gave off some bad vibes."

Pouting, I reply, "Okay, wise spirit vine expert. Tell us: where can we find shelter?"

Leguan adds, "Is there any healing water we can use for my arm?"

The aristocrat hums as he scans the area, "Not that I know of. But there are certain, well-known spirits who dwell here. Like the vines they respond to the energy of the people around them."

A horrendous shriek tears through the air suddenly, like car tires grating against the pavement. Then an alarm goes off in the distance, sounding for a few seconds before completely disappearing. A flock of wild spirits burst through the foliage and rush past us, screeching incoherently as if driven away in fear.

"What was that?!" Mang freaks out, clinging to me with one arm, her other arm reaching for the chains.

My heart pounds furiously as Ginshi tries to compose himself. "Right..." he mumbles, as petrified as the rest of us. "So...Yume... why don't you find us some shelter?"

* * *

The fire in front of us glows humbly while we listen to the thunderstorm raging outside. The occasional alarm goes out into the night, causing Mang to shoot up screaming. It's usually Leguan who turns on his side and calms her with a squeeze of her hand. Even with a shattered wrist, he coveys the greatest concern for everyone else.

Ginshi, on the other hand, is laying on the tattered aquamarine cough, feet propped up on the coffee table. I notice that his breathing, slow and steady, matches the beating of the fire. And then I remember that fire is a living, breathing source of energy. It's almost spiritual, in a way.

We're all spiritual beings in a strange way.

Then, suddenly, something catches my eye. Something in the rotting doorway. A set of sharp, luminescent amber eyes meet mine before disappearing into thin air.

I blink once, twice, rubbing my sleepy eyes, trying to comprehend what I've just seen. Curiosity gets the best of me and I start walking to the doorway, when another cry echoes into the night air. I flinch so hard I start to fall. My arms reach out against the wall to gain some balance.

Thin paper crackles underneath my fingers. I look up and see a faded poster, a flaming fire ferret decorating it. It's a poster for an old pro-bending team. It's over a century old. That's when it hits me: this place belonged to someone once. It was someone else's shelter, where they went to brood, to cry, to laugh, to share dinner with a loved one. And we're trespassing.

No wonder the spirit vines aren't happy with us being here. Just because we ran away from home doesn't mean we can desecrate someone else's.

I gently nudge my friends awake and tell them my theory. They begrudgingly understand, but refuse to move beyond the apartment building's front door.

"Yume, it's dangerous to go out there," Mang protests.

Ginshi compromises, "The people who lived in this building are long gone, anyways. Dead."

Leguan yawns, adding, "You're just tired. C'mon, let's all get some sleep. We can worry about dead people tomorrow."

A rumble of thunder interrupts us, one so powerful that the building shakes violently. The frame of the doorway shakes, then starts caving in.

"Watch out!" I shout, shooting my arms out and suctioning the air between us.

They slam into me and we fall together to the pavement. At the same time, the threshold of the front door collapses. Once the dust clears, I brush myself off, smirking somewhat proudly.

Ginshi pushes past me, grumbling, "Great. Now we have to find another place to sleep! I fucking hate this city!"

I shake my head, mimicking him, "'Oh, thank you for saving my life, Yume. That was real nice of you considering how much of an idiot I've been all night!'"

He spins around, brown eyes dark and jabs me in the chest. "I told you never to call me that!" He exclaims.

Mang steps between us, frantically crying, "You guys, this isn't the time to be yelling at each other. Something creepy is going on here and we should leave before we all get hurt!"

I raise an eyebrow at the aristocrat and grin like _I told you so_. "Good idea. I suggest we go upwards. There's an opening in the canopy that leads outside. We'll be able to see where to go after we get up there," I suggest.

Leguan nods, grasping his arm, "Okay, but how are we going to get there? I don't trust the integrity of these buildings. I wouldn't climb one after what just happened."

An idea lights up in my head. "I'm an air bender, aren't I? I can fly my way up there with Mang's chains and whatever else we can fashion out of the crap around here to make a makeshift climbing rope!" I tell them, growing excited.

"Good enough for me," Ginshi replies.

Mang smiles, unwrapping her waist and handing me the chains. "Be careful!" She tells me.

I smile back, "Of course."

Another alarm echoes in the air, accompanied by thunder and harsh, howling wind. I see the expressions on my friend's faces and I exclaim, "Okay, hop to it!"

* * *

Hours seem to pass by as we work. Ginshi and Mang run back and forth between the vines, bringing all sorts of glorious treasures like dirty sheets and faded shower curtains. Leguan and I work painstakingly to connect them together, making sure the rope will be strong enough to hold all of us at once.

The screams of the spirits, the wind, the alarms and the thunder derail us every couple of minutes but we work around them. The thoughts of spirits and vengeful dead people still haunt my mind, but nothing shakes me more than those eyes.

Familiar amber eyes. Amber eyes that lit up like gasoline pouring on a dying fire when I matched up to them. Those eyes have seen things.

"Alright," Leguan says. "We're good to go! Ready, Yume?"

I inhale deeply and nod. "Yeah, let's do this," I reply.

My friends start giving me encouragement and fortunately, it builds my confidence. I hop into the air and twist, a ball of air forming beneath me. Leguan hands me the start of the chain with his good hand, a grappling hook made of metal scraps, and I speed off, rolling off the sides of the buildings, soaring at ninety degree angles.

A spark of adrenaline gets me going, and I fly faster, harder. The hole in the canopy is in full view now. The sky is _right_ there. As I get closer, I start swinging the chain over my head, gaining momentum with every movement. But, just as I throw it, a clump of rocks and ice fly directly through the rusted metal.

I hear a mischievous cluster of laughs from a rooftop nearby. In the corner of my eye, I catch them. A small gang of teenagers. I see another rock come at me, and before I can register it, it crunches against my hand and breaks the chain completely.

The hit stuns me momentarily, and that's when the air scooter vanishes under my feet. Slowly, the hole in the canopy grows smaller and smaller.

I fall backwards, past the buildings and the vines, plummeting towards the pavements. My mouth opens and I scream, because no air is spouting out of my hands or feet, there's no fire either.

Just when I think I'm about to die, something amazing happens.

Somewhere below, I hear another shriek, this time much,_ much_ closer. It's like a motorcycle racing on the pavement. Abruptly, the wheels take a strange turn and they screech like they've taken off into the air. The smell of burning rubber fills my nose, and the dizzying sound of a police alarm pounds against my eardrum.

I clench my eyes shut and wait for the impact, when someone catches me. In seconds the motorcycle slams wheels first into the ground and skids to a stop. The alarm shuts off, like it's a recording.

The thunder stops rumbling, too.

Heart hammering in my chest and brain swimming with adrenaline, I cautiously open my eyes to look at the person who just saved my life. I see an old-fashioned gray-blue jacket buttoned up neatly. A reflective, gold-colored shield is pinned to the fabric, right over this person's heart.

My eyes shift upwards until I see his face. The ivory toned, clean-shaven skin framing that gentle smile. Those stupid eyebrows shaped like sharks. That spiky black helmet hair, and of course, his amber eyes glimmering with a hint of mischief beneath the layers of responsibility.

I breathe, _"_It's_ you."_

"Looks like you've got some gang trouble. Good thing the police are here," he cracks, revealing a pearly-white grin.

Without warning, my eyes overflow with tears until they stream down my cheeks. Giggles rise in my chest, and then I'm laughing uncontrollably until I dissolve into a puddle of sobs.

"_M-m-mako!"_ I bawl, barely able to form the words. "Y-y-you we-re h-h-here a-all thi-thi-this time!"

He pats my back with a warm hand and tells me to take a breath. I nod frantically and gulp down my sobs, eventually taking in a large enough breath to stop hyperventilating.

"Good," he observes, the tenderness in his voice reaching my heart. He wipes my cheeks clean with a gloved finger. "How do you feel now?"

Swallowing hard, I reply, "I'm alright. Oh, my spirits, Mako, did you ever leave Republic City?"

He shakes his head, replying, "I would never leave my home when so much still needs to be done. This city needs me. And I need her."

Considering the memories Raava has just flooded my mind with, it makes sense. To think, he _died_ for this city. And a hundred plus years later, he's still guarding the streets. The orphans, the homeless, the lost and scared and confused; to them, Mako is their protector, their defender.

My friends' voices sound a few hundred feet away. They're looking for me. I glance up at the officer and ask, "Can you help me one more time?"

"For you? Anything," he replies, starting up the motorcycle.

* * *

It's dawn when Mako gets us safely through the spirit wilds and back into the heart of the city. He lets us off the motorcycle, which was miraculously roomy enough considering I got to sit in his lap.

"Are you sure you don't need me to take you to the hospital?" He asks Leguan, who's clutching his wrist.

My best friend is still dazzled by the spirit's presence to really care. "No...I'll be okay, really," he replies. "Thanks."

Then Mako glances at Mang and Ginshi, "And you two, are you gonna be okay?"

Ginshi is stunned into silence and Mang, well, she looks ready to cry. I don't blame her, though. If a handsome, old-timey cop offered to take me home after a long night I'd cry, too.

Finally his amber eyes look back at me and he asks, "What about you?"

Feeling my heart about to burst, I reply, "What _about_ me? What about _you_?" I wrap my arms around his neck and squeeze. "You're an angel."

Mako hugs me back and replies with a laugh, "It's my job to protect the people who need me."

"_I_ needed you," I respond sadly, pulling away.

Something flutters in my chest as he leans forward and plants a kiss to my forehead. "Hey, remember what I told you," he says. "No matter how crazy things get, I'll always have your back."

The engine of his motorcycle roars to life and he delivers a dashing salute before taking off into the streets, disappearing to help the next lost soul who needs him.

We stand there in his wake, silent for a few moments, each secretly wondering if what we'd just experienced was a dream or not. Either way, it was other worldly and exactly what we needed.

Eventually, Ginshi finally pops the quiet bubble, "Forget what I said earlier. I fucking love this city!"

* * *

**Author's Note: The characters mentioned in this fic are all mine besides Mako and Raava, who belong to Bryke, yaddah yaddah. The headcanon belongs to Steinbecks, of course. Yume is 5'4 and Mako, canonically, is 6'2. Imagine how frickin cute that hug between this giant dork and the tiny avatar was!**

**Quick note: ****The story centers around my characters from "Avatar: Illusions and Shadows" which is listed in my ficlist on this site. *Spoilers ahead if you haven't read it*** **I mentioned in one chapter that Yume and her friends roamed Republic City for a week and even slept in the wilds one night because they had just been run out of the Fire Nation.** **This is one of those fillers I'd planned to put in. But I decided to keep it separate, so, you can apply what happened here to the multi-chapter and decide what to make of it.**

**Another quick note: If you love Mako and want your heart to shatter, listen to Bastille. Especially the songs "These Streets", "Laughter Lines" and "Flaws". In fact, read this fic while listening to Bastille. Think about how Mako was handled in the series and how much MORE he deserved than what was dumped on him and tell me how you feel afterwards. **

**Happy listening! 3**


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